Battle of Midway vets honored

Smoke billows from the USS Yorktown after a Japanese bomber hit the aircraft carrier in the Battle of Midway near Midway Islands in June 1942 during World War II. Bursts from anti-aircraft fire fill the air. ( AP Photo/U.S. Navy)

Smoke billows from the USS Yorktown after a Japanese bomber hit the aircraft carrier in the Battle of Midway near Midway Islands in June 1942 during World War II. Bursts from anti-aircraft fire fill the air. ( AP Photo/U.S. Navy)

Smoke billows from the USS Yorktown after a Japanese bomber hit the aircraft carrier in the Battle of Midway near Midway Islands in June 1942 during World War II. Bursts from anti-aircraft fire fill the air. ( AP Photo/U.S. Navy)

Before Midway was a museum in San Diego, before it was an aircraft carrier, it was the name of a battle that altered the course of World War II in the Pacific.

Thursday night, seven local veterans of that storied clash between American and Japanese naval forces in 1942 will be honored — honored, appropriately enough, at the museum that houses the aircraft carrier that was named for the battle, the USS Midway Museum.

These are men in their 90s now, a couple of them pushing 100, members of the so-called Greatest Generation. Their numbers dwindle by the hour; of the 16 million Americans who fought in World War II, about 1.2 million are still alive. That adds a certain poignancy to their gatherings, and a certain urgency to the sharing of their stories.

Thursday's event on the flight deck of the Midway is the annual American Patriot Award Gala, which raises money for student field trips to the 10-year-old museum. It’s sold out.

Those being honored are:

Geoffrey Blackman, a co-pilot with a PBY-5 Catalina squadron that rescued a dive bomber crew that had been shot down.

Elton Frazier, an anti-aircraft gunner aboard the USS Minneapolis, a heavy cruiser, which shot down three Japanese bombers.

Rudy Matz, a fire control man on the USS Hughes, a destroyer, which took out several Japanese planes and rescued survivors from the sinking of the USS Yorktown, a carrier.

Edward McKenna, an aviation machinist mate, who helped retrofit torpedo-bombers used in the battle.

Andy Mills, chief steward to the commanding officer of the Yorktown.

Charles Monroe, a turret gunner and radio man in an Avenger torpedo bomber.

Ervin Wendt, an aviation ordnance man and a turret gunner in an Avenger.

Like many others who fought in World War II, the Midway vets don’t like to talk much about what they did, except with each other, and they brag even less. The real heroes, they’ll tell you, are the ones who didn’t come home.

They all know some of those.

“You can be in the right place at the right time,” said Rudy Matz, “and you can be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

A turning point

In June of 1942, Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto was readying a knockout punch.

Now Yamamoto wanted to take the American base on Midway, an island about 1,200 miles northwest of Hawaii — take it not just because of its strategic location, but because he hoped to draw out what was left of the U.S. fleet and destroy it.

What the admiral didn’t realize was that U.S. intelligence had broken Japanese communication codes, and the Americans knew the Midway attack was coming. They prepared an ambush.

The battle that followed lasted parts of four days. When it was over, Japan had lost four carriers, one heavy cruiser, 250 planes, and more than 3,000 lives. U.S. losses: one carrier, one destroyer, 150 planes and about 300 lives.

Historians generally see it as the turning point of the war in the Pacific, reducing Japan’s military power and enabling the U.S. to take the offensive in future island-hopping battles. One historian has called it “the most stunning and decisive blow in the history of naval warfare.”

Most of those fighting the battle were too busy — and too tired — to understand its significance. “I think over those four days we got 10 hours of sleep,” Matz said.

Frazier remembers the Japanese planes passing over his ship in waves. “They kept coming at us, and we put up a barrage,” he said. Born in Louisiana, he grew up comfortable around guns, “and us Cajun kids are pretty good shots.”

He was also among the oldest crew members, at 23, so as he sat behind the 40 mm gun he wasn’t scared, he said. “It was going to be them or it was going to be me. I just whistled Dixie and let it bump.”

After Midway, the vets saw more action in other battles. Matz went to flight school and flew 44 combat missions in a Hellcat, shooting down four Japanese fighters. Monroe and Wendt worked the turret guns in Avenger missions out of Guadalcanal. Frazier survived the torpedoing of the Minneapolis.

Some made the military a career, some left after the war. Every June, many of them go to the Midway Museum for annual ceremonies marking the anniversary of the battle. Thursday's gala, they said, feels like a bonus prize.

The award they’re getting recognizes the accomplishments of “individuals who epitomize the true meaning of patriotism, personal sacrifice, and selfless service to America.” Past honorees include Medal of Honor recipients and astronauts.

At some point during the evening, though, they’ll reflect not just on what was won during those four days, but also what was lost. Wendt knew more than a dozen U.S. pilots killed at Midway. He could have been one of them.

“I’m looking forward to being on the Midway again,” he said. “I just wish the rest of the crew could be there with me.”